What is systemic coaching — and why do I use a table full of objects?

When someone comes to coaching, they usually arrive with a story. A version of their situation they have rehearsed — often many times, to many people. It is coherent. It makes sense. And it is, usually, incomplete.

Systemic coaching starts from a different question. Not: what is wrong, and how do we fix it? But: what is the whole field here? Who are the players? What are the invisible loyalties, the unspoken rules, the forces pulling in different directions? What has been excluded that still has weight?

Systems are hard to hold in your head. Objects help.

The challenge with systemic work is its complexity. We are not talking about one relationship or one decision — we are talking about a web of forces, many of which operate below awareness. That is a lot to hold in your mind while also trying to think clearly.

This is where objects come in. When you build a scene on a table — placing figures to represent the key people, roles or forces in your situation — something remarkable happens. The system becomes visible. It moves from inside you to outside you. And once it is out there, you can look at it.

You might notice who is central and who is on the edge. You might feel how it sits — whether it feels right, or whether something is wrong in a way you can't yet name. You might move a figure and feel the whole scene shift.

Who is this for?

Systemic coaching with objects works powerfully for people navigating complexity — a career transition, a family decision, a leadership challenge, a question about where they belong. It works for teams who need to see their dynamics from the outside. And it works for anyone who has the sense that there is more going on than they have words for.

You don't need to understand the theory. You just need to be willing to pick up a figure and see what happens.